Gundert Bungalow To Be A Language Museum

The Thalassery Heritage Tourism Project has taken up the conservation of the Gundert bungalow, which has been a home to the doyen of Malayalam language for twenty years. The Gundert bungalow at Illikunnu is where he stayed when he wrote the English- Malayalm dictionary and published Rajyasamacharam, the first among the contemporary Malayalam newspapers.

Gundert who settled in Thalasery in 1839 has a structure in his name, which has been a tourism landmark of the area. The building which was a typical colonial mansion was modified at later stages. Owned by the Church of South India, the building has been handed over to the Tourism Department for the heritage project. A report by The Hindu, said that, the later modifications in the building were being removed to revive its original look and the ambience. Taking into account the immense contribution made by the German linguist and scholar for the language, the language museum which will open its doors on the first week of November is sure to turn out to be an iconic centre in preserving the linguistic links between two countries.

At a time when Malayalam is officially getting the recognition it deserves, the museum which will serve as a language study and research centre will help revive the language preserving shared values culture.